


On Your Toes

by Delibirdette



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Also it's Christmas time, Christmas Eve, Crack Relationships, Dancing, I forgot nobody shipped this, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Mistletoe is involved as well, Random Encounters, Waltzing, cute kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1734194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delibirdette/pseuds/Delibirdette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the sake of tradition, Ishimaru Kiyotaka needs a partner to fulfill his Christmas Eve waltz. And who should he manage to persuade? The redhead baseball player Leon Kuwata, who has never waltzed a day in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Your Toes

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Christmas present for a friend! I'm aware it's far from Christmas time during the time I posted this...  
> I hope you enjoy it! I would definitely love some feedback!

The needle is lightly positioned on the disc of the record player, and with a press of a button the music starts.

“Ishimaru...” Leon protests, “You really don’t have to do this.”

The baseball player’s cheeks are almost as red as his fiery hair, and with irritated embarrassment, he tugs at his tie. All this formality and, as the other previously called it, ‘perfection’, is almost too much for the young athlete’s pride to handle.

The other young man straightens his back and lifts his chin defiantly, giving Leon a half-disgusted glare. “Of course I do! It’s tradition!” He answers, as if the other boy had never heard of such a thing. “My ancestors have always waltzed to Morgenblätter on the Eve of Christmas!”

Leon responds by aggressively pulling at his own sleeve. He was not used to wearing this form of attire – a black formal suit and tie, with glossy shoes that had recently been shined. A yellow flower is perched in Leon’s pocket, feeling a little bit out of place. His usual outfit apparently did not fancy with Ishimaru’s attention to detail, so he had picked the entirety of the outfit out of his own closet. But it wasn’t the fact that the clothing was from Ishimaru that had Leon so embarrassed. Well, nervous was a better word for it than anything.

Putting it in short words, this is Leon’s first dance.

As the chorus of violins in the music begin their light and cheery melody, Ishimaru approaches the redhead slowly. He is wearing an outfit much like Leon’s, only in grey, with a white flower blooming shamelessly in his front pocket.

Ishimaru gently raises one arm as he dips in a graceful bow. As if he had suddenly became some sort of fluttery ballerina dancer, Leon thinks.

_I didn’t sign up for this shit,_ Leon grumbles quietly, expecting the other to straighten himself up and start the dance. But Ishimaru’s red eyes catch hold of the icy blue once again as the hall monitor lifts his head slightly. Staying still in his rather stupid-looking pose, he encourages the other boy. He clears his throat.

“Kuwata, you’re supposed to bow! One foot tucked behind the other! Hand on your heart! Arm out like thi–”

“I _know_.” Leon growls, not wanting to hear the other boy give further instruction. Leon’s bow is not nearly as graceful, and as he dips his torso down his expression twists into a look of strained concentration. It is harder to balance than he thought. He figures this wasn’t an actual pose that people used back during... whenever this damn waltz was invented. But regardless, he knows he has to put up with this until it was over.

Nodding slightly in approval, Ishimaru rises up, and comes even closer to the other boy who is trying not to make a complete fool of himself. Ishimaru places one hand on Leon’s waist, and with the other he entwines the redhead’s hand with his own.

Unprepared, Leon tenses at the sudden touch. “E-ey! The fuck d’ya think you’re doin’?!”

“We’re preparing to dance.” Ishimaru says. As if that clears up anything. “This is how all people waltz. Do not be so alarmed!”

The two of them are just about the same height, Ishimaru being just a centimeter taller. Even though it is such a small difference, Leon can tell and begins to feel a little self-conscious. He holds up his hand– the one not being held by the other – and he lets his eyes ask the question.

“On my shoulder.” The hall monitor says, which earns another angry protest.

“That’s the girl’s position!”

“I pay no mind! Besides, the male role is the leading role! It is best that I lead to show you how to waltz!”

With an exasperated sigh, Leon puts his hand on the other boy’s shoulder. The music fades out for a moment and there is a pause. Then, as the violins and trumpets come back in with a different rhythm and tempo, Ishimaru makes the first steps of the waltz.

His footsteps are slow, for Leon’s sake, but they flow naturally, as if he was born to do this. Leon, on the other hand, etches his eyebrows together and his pierced lip sticks out as he stares down at his feet. One step at a time, in a continuous loop not unlike a square. There are several times where the baseball player loses rhythm and fumbles, but Ishimaru reassures him, and helps him by whispering to keep in time:

“One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three...”

The music speeds up, and the instruments on the disc grow louder with passion and intensity. Ishimaru quickens his pace, and Leon manages to stay on track. The athlete’s toes step onto the ground funny, and the other boy’s large eyebrows furrow into a look of pain. The dancing comes to a stop for a slight moment.

“Your foot, Kuwata...!”

“Oh!” Leon quickly corrects his stance, and as Ishimaru recalculates the timing, they start off again, stepping in time to the music.

As the instruments once again change to a slower rhythm, Leon decides to try and make a conversation to distract the thought that he may be embarrassing himself.

“So... uh, how long have ya’been waltzing like this...?”

Ishimaru glances away for a minute in thought, but his toes never misplace themselves. As if it were all in his subconscious. “Since I can remember, actually! I’ve been doing this since I was a small child!”

“I figured as such.” Leon sighs, and the conversation deflates. It’s obvious this was something that the hall monitor had practically mastered. It’s actually quite a charming characteristic, Leon thinks, how classy and old-fashioned Ishimaru is. It fit him perfectly. The music begins to melt into Leon’s subconscious as he becomes lost in thought. About the slow dancing, and the warmth of the fire as it burns slowly, and the feeling of Ishimaru’s hand holding his... wait, what?

“Kuwata!” Ishimaru alerts the other again, causing the redhead to jump in surprise. Instead of angrily correcting him about something, like Leon thinks he is going to, Ishimaru looks at him in concern. “You seem rather out of it suddenly! Are you alright?”

“Hm?” Leon blinks, returning to Earth. “Oh, yeah, I-I’m fine. Sorry, I... wh—!!”

The music reaches it’s five-minute mark, and suddenly, the pace quickens and the trumpets get louder. Ishimaru, not remembering that his partner is an amateur, lets his feet take off to catch up to the beat. But what takes Leon off-guard the most as the sudden spinning.

Ishimaru steers Leon around and around, and whilst keeping their original footing they make seemingly endless circles as their feet dance lightly on the wooden floor. Leon’s expression twists into a look of surprise, and he tries to keep up. He manages to choke down his cries of defenselessness as he is swung around so swiftly. He really did have no control over the other’s stronger grip and confidence. Leon looks up from his feet and discovers something odd.

Ishimaru’s eyes were closed. As the hall monitor spun the two of them around gently, the baseball player can hear him humming the melody to himself quietly. He looks so entranced with the music and the motions he performs, with his bushy eyebrows high on his forehead, adding a look of peace and calmness to his overall expression.

_How adorable..._

_Fuck, I did not just think that._

If he had a hand readily available, Leon would have slapped himself. But that would have alarmed Ishimaru and he would quickly note the fact that the blood was rushing uncontrollably to the athlete’s face. Fortunately, Ishimaru pays no mind to the other flustered boy and continues to prance to the beat. Frankly, Leon simply wants this to end. But the music never seems to stop coming up with new rhythms to bounce along to.

Now dizzy, Leon hears the music come to what a musician could distinguish as the grand finale of the piece. Relieved that the ending was near, he forgets to watch his step, and fumbles one last time as he starts to slip backwards. This causes Ishimaru to teeter off-balance, snap back to reality, and reflexively lean forward to attempt to catch the redhead before he fell.

The result: Ishimaru holding Leon up by his back, towering over the halfway-fallen figure. His grip on Leon’s hand tightens, and their faces are close together, noses nearly touching.

They both wore the same startled expression that read, ‘The hell just happened?’, and as the trumpet in the music blares it’s final note, the room succumbs to silence. All that can be heard for a good minute is the heavy breathing of the two boys as they stand frozen stiff from shock, clinging to each other from the frantic heat-of-the-moment situation. Ishimaru is the first to react.

“O-oh! I’m... so sorry! My apologies!” He blurts, breaking the silence of the room. Now it was his turn to feel his cheeks flare up. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ishimaru begins to straighten the two of them out again.

Leon tugs on the other’s shoulder to stop him, still on the verge of slipping as he tries to find his footing. “I, uh... no, it’s fine.” he murmurs, then as the hall monitor tries to lift him up, Leon panics slightly. He glances downward, seeing his legs had somehow gotten tangled up with Ishimaru’s. “Hold on–! D-don’t move, I’m still not stable...!”

Ishimaru continues to stammer apologies, and the awkward atmosphere in the air intensifies. They manage somehow to get their legs untwisted and Ishimaru lifts Leon back to a standing position. Leon forces a sheepish smile of thanks.

The two of them look down to notice that neither one had let go of each other’s hand. Both boys quickly react with a murmur of apologies and immediately letting go. Ishimaru takes a step back, and the distance between them once again becomes comfortable. Silence ensues. You can almost hear crickets despite it being a snowstorm outside.

Leon feels like he had to say _something_. The scenario is tense and uncomfortable, and the quickly forming layer of ice had to be broken.

“That was... kind of fun, actually.”

This news makes Ishimaru grin. “I’m glad you think so!” He says, bowing his head. “Perhaps next Christmas Eve we shall perform the same waltz again!”

Leon forces a chuckle. “S-sure, I guess...” he mumbles. But he wouldn’t really mind, he supposes. This wasn’t the worst thing to happen to him, and miraculously not the most embarrassing, either. His smile begins to feel genuine on his face.

Hagakure suddenly crashes into the room with a bouquet of mistletoe braided into his hair, standing tall like the star on a Christmas tree. “Just kiss already, you nerds!” He screams, causing the two boys to shout in surprise.

“Ha-Hagakure?!” Leon blurts in shock, then grows angry. He clenches his fists. “How the fuck did YOU get in here?!”

“It is a mystery, Kuwata-chi!” The fortune teller replies, dangling mistletoe overhead. “But you have to kiss now, it’s the _rules_!”

His demands made Leon’s lips twist, on the verge of laughing at the absurdity of it all. “You’re insane. We’re not doing anything of that sort! Just telling us we have to isn’t gon–”

“Kuwata.”

Leon turns to look over at Ishimaru. His body is stiff as a board as he stood there, and Leon could have sworn he saw him quiver once or twice. The hall monitor’s expression is deadpan, face pale. With a weak voice, he whispers. “We have to.”

“...’Scuse me?”

“Didn’t you hear him? It’s the _rules_! The RULES, Kuwata! We can’t just break the rules because you are not apt to following them!”

Leon’s eye twitches. Frankly, he has no idea how to act. “You can _not_ be serious...! Y- you’re going to go this far just to stick to some stupid—!”

But he is completely serious. In the blink of an eye, Ishimaru grips the redhead’s suit collar, violently tugging him closer. Ishimaru’s face and ears redden considerably as he closes his eyes. There is a moment of hesitation before Leon feels something soft on his lips.

_He didn’t._

In the flash of frozen time and the moment of deafened ears, Hagakure’s victory shout is drowned out by the rapid pulse of Leon’s heartbeat.

_But he DID._

Most people would refer to it as a spark, what Leon suddenly feels throughout his body. Blushing heavily, Leon only resists for a short while, and when finding that pushing the other did nothing, he gives up and his muscles relax. Ishimaru pulls away after a while, the kiss taking a lot longer than Leon had expected it to take. Or, maybe that was just how it felt to him.

“Sh-... shit.” Leon breathes, stunned. “You’re makin’ me feel all weak here, man! I can’t stop ya from _nothin’_! What gives? You enjoyin’ that more than ya should?”

Ishimaru, face blooming with blush, opens his mouth to reply. But Leon takes advantage of the situation and leans forward, pressing their lips together once again, this time with Leon in charge. Surprised, Ishimaru squirms around and shouts something that gets muffled into the other’s mouth. Now locked under the baseball player’s arms, Ishimaru doesn’t seem nearly as strong, but that may just be because he had been knocked so off-guard.

Feeling much more comfortable with this scenario, Leon now subconsciously steers the two of them to the couch, and as the unsuspecting hall monitor trips over the chair he falls flat on his back, Leon now towering over him on the cushions.

“Ha... who’s the leading role _now_?!” Leon separates himself from the other boy for a moment to tease before pulling him right back into it. This isn’t about the mistletoe anymore. Or Hagakure, for that matter. They have no idea where the fortune teller even went off to. Nor do they care.

The two boys tussle about on the sofa, and their fancy suits and gelled-up hair become disheveled in minutes. As Leon moves his hands to undo Ishimaru’s jacket, the other boy stops him for a brief moment, face red.

“For what has become of this,” Ishimaru says, panting, “I hold Hagakure completely responsible!”

“Oh no, don’t blame _him_.” Leon reassures with a smirk. He cups the other’s face with one hand before unbuttoning the other’s shirt. “Blame it on the rules.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...This was going to be a serious fic, I swear. I'm not too sure what happened.


End file.
